Turkey attacks Syrian targets following deadly mortar attack

Footage from Turkey shows the imminent aftermath of a mortar strike launched
from within Syria on the town of Akcakale, which killed five people and
later prompted retaliatory strikes.

10:54PM BST 03 Oct 2012

Turkey's military struck targets inside Syria on in response to a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory which killed five Turkish civilians, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office said in a statement.

"Our armed forces in the border region responded immediately to this abominable attack in line with their rules of engagement; targets were struck through artillery fire against places in Syria identified by radar," the statement said.

A mortar bomb fired from Syria landed in a residential district of the southeastern Turkish town of Akcakale, killing a woman and four children from the same family and wounding at least eight other people.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc stressed that Syria must be made to account for a mortar bomb that killed five people and a response should be given within international law.

"We are not blinded by rage but we will protect our rights to the end in the face of such an attack on our soil that killed our people," Mr Arinc said.

Footage taken shortly after the attack shows how a cloud of dust and smoke rose up over low-rise buildings as residents ran to help the wounded. Others, infuriated by the increasing spillover of violence from Syria's civil war, took to the streets shouting protests against the local authorities.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu phoned UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to brief him about the incident and also spoke with senior military officials and Syria crisis mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, along with Nato Secretary General, his ministry said in a statement.

Mr Davutoglu signalled over the weekend that Turkey would take action if there was a repeat of a mortar strike which damaged homes and workplaces in Akcakale last Friday.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan long cultivated good relations with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad but became a harsh critic after the popular revolt against his rule began last year, accusing him of creating a "terrorist state".

Mr Erdogan has allowed Syrian rebels to organise on Turkish soil and pushed for a foreign-protected safe zone inside Syria.

In April, Turkey reported an incident to the United Nations in which at least five people, including two Turkish officials, were wounded when cross-border gunfire struck a Syrian refugee camp in Kilis, further west along the frontier.

Turkey beefed up its troop presence and air defences along its border after Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet in June.

Turkey is sheltering more than 90,000 refugees from Syria and fears a mass influx similar to the flight of half a million Iraqi Kurds into Turkey after the 1991 Gulf War.